Takedown steel square



Uatented Aug. il, lg.

time tra HANS H, RASMUSSEN, OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON.

TAKEDOVN STEEL SQUARE.

Application led August 6, 1923.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HANS H. RAsMUssnN, a subject of the King of Denmark,residing at Edmonds, county of Snohomish, and State of lVashington, haveinvented a new and useful Takedown Steel Square; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

The invention is thc hinging of the members of a steel square so thatthey may be folded together, and the providingV of a positive lock forholding them rigid when o en.

1@The object of the invention is to provide a steel square that may befolded when not in use, or for shipping, in which the parts areinseparable.

Another object of the invention is to provide a steel square that may befolded, in which the sides of the hinge are flush with the sides of thesquare.

And a further object of the invention is to provide a square in whichthe members are hinged together, with a positive lock for holding themapart.

llVith these ends in view the invention embodies a steel square having aportion of the ends of the members at the v-ertex halved, and pivotallyattached together by a pin; and a lock having a rack and pinion foroperating it, for holding the two members together.

@ther features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail, showing the hinge and lock.

Figure 3 is an end view, looking in the direction of the arrows 3-3shown on Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail, taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail on line 5 5 of Figure 2.

In the drawings l have shown my square as it would be constructedwherein numeral 1 indicates the body, numeral 2 the tongue, numeral 3the pin upon which they are hinged, and numeral 4 the lock.

It will be seen that the main part of the body 1 is made in the usualmanner, and at the head end it is provided with a projeeT Serial No.655,930.

tion 5, the thickness of which is about half of that of the body. Atriangular shaped section of half the thickness of the body is omittedadjacent the point at which is the projection 5, so that a fiat plate ofabout half the thickness of the body, will extend from the point 6 tothe point 7 at the outer edge, and from the point 8 to the point 9 atthe inner edge. The edge extending between the points 7 an-d 9 as shownin Figure 2, is beveled from the edge that is midway between the upperand lower surfaces of the body backward or toward the body, as shown atthe point 7 in Figure 3; and the edge between the points 6 and 8 isbeveled from a point midway between the surfaces of the body outward oraway from the body. The tongue 2 is provided with a projection 10, thatis similar to the projection 5, and its edges are beveled in a similarmanner so that as the two are placed together their edges will coincide.The projection 10 of the tongue 2 is pivotally attached to theprojection 5 of the body 1 by the pin 3, the outer edges of which arepeened so that it will remain in place. It will be seen that as thetongue 2 is twisted about the pin 3, its inner edge will engage theinner edge of the body, so that the square may be handled as a straightbar.

The look 4 may be constructed as shown, with a sliding plate 11, havinga rack 12 on one side mounted in a slot 13. One side of the plate 11, asindicated by the numeral 14, may be straight, and the other side and oneend, as indicated by the numerals 15 and 16, may be beveled as shown inFigure 5, so that the plate cannot fall out of the slot. The teeth ofthe rack 12 mesh with the teeth of the pinion 17 in a hole 18 in thebody, and the pinion has a slot 19 through it by which it may be rotatedby a key. The pinion may have a shoulder 2O below it, and a sleeve 21below the shoulder so that it may be rotatably held in a slot 22 in awasher 23, that may be held in a recess 24 in the body by rivets 25. Itwill be seen that the pinion may first be inserted in the hole 18, andthen the washer 23 placed over it and into the recess 24. The rivets 25may then be riveted in place, which will hold both the washer andpinion.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the constructionwithout departing from the spirit of theinvention. One of which changesmay be in the design of the key or in the means for holding the plateand pinion in place, another may be in the shape of the projectionsthrough which the pivot pin passes, and still another may be in thelocation of the pivot pin.

The construction may be readily understood from the foregoingdescription. To use the device it may be opened to the position shown inthe drawing, where it will be rigidly held by the lock 4, and when it isdesiredto take the square down or fold it, a rectangular shaped key maybe placed in the slot 19 'and the pinion rotated in a clockwisedirection so that it will draw the plate l1 backward. After the end ofthe plate 11 has passed the line between the point 6 and `8 the tongue 2maybe twisted about the pin 3 and folded as hereinbefore described.VThen when it is desired to use the device as a square the tongue 2 maybe opened and the pinion rotated in the opposite direction, so that thekey will slide toward the large end of the slot and hold the tonguerigid in relation to the body It will be observed that have made thewidth of the ltongue exactly one and fiveeig'hths inches, which is theactual thickness ofi Ajoists, as by providing a square with a tongue ofthis size it will be possible to lay the squareon the base member and bydrawing a pencil along each side of it mark lines for both sides of thejoists or stud without moving the square; and I have placed a hole onthe inside of the body at the point 26, which is exactly 16 inchesfromthe outer surface of the tongue, as practically all studding isplaced 16 inches apart,and by making a special mark of this type at thepoint in the square which is most commonly used it will be possible tosave considerable time in laying out a large number of studs. After asquare has been used for some time, the numbers which are only slightlyindented in the surface, disappear, and after they disappear a notch isoften filed at a point that is supposed to be sixteen inches from theend. However, as this is often done in a hurry the actual distance isgenerally more or less than sixteen inches, and the square is thereforerendered inaccurate, whereas, by placing this hole through the edge thisdimension will be accurate and permanent.

Having thus fully described the invention what I ,claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

In a folding square, a body portionhaving a projection at one end, atongue pivotally att-ached to the projection at the end of the bodyport-ion, the said projection of the body portion and a portion of thetongue being halved from points adjacent to pivot points diagonallyoutward with the diagonal edges bevelled, a lockingplate, with teeth inone side and the other side and one end bevelled, slidably mounted in aslot in the body and adaptable to engage a slot in the tongue, and asmall pinion with an opening for a locking plate 11 in the centerrotatably mounted in' said body in such a position that it will engagethe teeth inthe said locking plate 11.

HANS H. RASMUSSEN.

